Biden Also Slows China's Semiconductor Rise... Urges Netherlands "Do Not Sell Key Equipment to China"

▲U.S. President Joe Biden [Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Following the Trump administration, the current Biden administration has also pressured the Dutch government not to sell key equipment to China in order to curb China's "semiconductor rise."

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 17th (local time), the Dutch government is continuing to withhold export permits for advanced lithography equipment made by its domestic company ASML due to pressure from the United States.

ASML's extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment is the world's only semiconductor production equipment capable of engraving extremely fine circuits of 5 nanometers (nm) or less on silicon wafers using EUV.

Accordingly, leading global semiconductor and electronics companies such as Samsung Electronics, TSMC, Intel, and Apple are also eager to secure ASML's cutting-edge EUV lithography equipment.

China is also pushing to import ASML's EUV lithography equipment, which costs as much as $150 million (approximately 171.2 billion KRW) per unit, to enhance the competitiveness of its domestic semiconductor manufacturers, but due to U.S. interference, it has yet to obtain it.

WSJ reported, citing U.S. officials, that the Biden administration requested the Dutch government to restrict exports to China citing national security concerns.

Less than a month after President Biden took office, Jake Sullivan, the White House National Security Advisor, reportedly called his Dutch counterpart to emphasize the "close cooperation on advanced technologies" between the two countries and raised this issue.

Continuing to restrict the export of ASML equipment to China was one of Sullivan's top priorities, according to these officials.

This policy is a direct continuation of the Trump administration's stance.

In 2019, during the Trump administration, Charles Kupperman, Deputy National Security Advisor, invited Dutch diplomats to the White House and pressured them to restrict exports by saying, "Good allies do not sell such equipment to China."

It is also known that Deputy Advisor Kupperman threatened that since ASML products use U.S. components, "the export of such components to the Netherlands could also be banned."

However, the Biden administration is not considering export ban threats against the Netherlands itself, but instead plans to cooperate with Western allies only on restricting exports to China.

Since it is estimated that even if China develops lithography equipment on its own, it will take at least 10 years to catch up with ASML's technology, these export restrictions are expected to deal a significant blow to China in the U.S.-China "technology cold war."

However, Peter Wennink, CEO of ASML, warned that if such export regulations are "abused, they could slow innovation in the medium term" and could worsen global semiconductor supply chain issues even in the short term.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.